Understanding The Past
by Phantom Aurthor
Summary: Ever wonder what will happen if Emil met Lloyd before the Blood Purge of Palmacosta? Well a certain Summon Spirit of Heart is about to give him the chance to meet up with the red clad swordsman. But there is a catch. Emil will have to experience the Regeneration journey for himself. Will his resolve to kill Lloyd still hold after knowing the truth? Read to find out.
1. Going Back

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Tales of Symphonia or any character, locations, or settings mentioned in this story. The are owned by their rightful creators.

**Authour's Note:** Okay this is the first time I ever have to write a fanfiction so try to not be too harsh on me. =3 Anyway this story came about when I was thinking about a skit when Regal said that he would had liked Emil to have met Lloyd when they were on the journey. At first I thought about just doing a revisited version of the original storyline but thought it would be too dull. So instead I came up with this. Hopefully it is not too bad. So help me out by leaving reviews and telling me how I can improve. Thank you and I hope you have fun reading this chapter. =^u^=

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_Why?! Why do they put so much trust in that monster?! _Finally Emil have reach the town of Aselia which use to be the hometown of the murderer that killed the people in Palmacosta. But even so visiting such a place just serves to irritate him more. Everyone in Aselia, even the kids within the school, seem to view this killer as some sort of hero. And needless to say there is no chance of him convincing Raine, Genis, or Colette of the brunet's guilt. Sure they shows some doubt but they never look ready to fully accept the fact that their old friend have changed for the worse. A huff escapes the angered Emil as he enters the Martel Temple, "Can they not understand that Lloyd is no longer the same person he use to be?!"

Marta, the person that serves as Emil's constant travel companion, senses the agitation that leaks through in the boy's voice, "Calm down Emil." The blond boy simply sighs as he sits down atop the altar. "I understand how you feel." Marta sits next to her 'knight in shining armor' and places a hand atop his, "I lost someone dear to me to and can never forgive the person that did it. Do not worry. I am sure they will come around once they see Lloyd for themselves." A brief silence falls between them as Emil tries to calm himself down.

_**"Do you wish to see Lloyd?"**_ The voice catches the two by surprise and they look about the room but find nobody is with them. This confuses them but before they can ask the voice anything another question is toss at them, _**"I sense your heart is full of anger. Is it revenge you seek?" **_Again the two remain silent as they get to their feet. Just where is this voice coming from? Above all else how does this unseen entity know of Lloyd? Once more the mysterious voice tries to reach out to them, _**"If you wish it I can take you to him. But remember this...Whatever happens cannot be undone..."**_

While this sudden offer does come as a shock to them it is also the best chance they have to find and kill Lloyd. The guy that killed so many innocent people. The person who burned down Palmacosta without mercy. They might finally be able to put an end to him. Emil thinks hard on the offer and clenches his fists, "Lloyd...He's the one that started all this. He attacked Palmacosta and cause so many people to suffer!" He raises a fist up to eye level and shouts, "If it means I will be to make him pay I do not care about the cost!"

The mysterious voice remains silent but eventually gives the two the answer that they want, _**"Then shall it be. I will take you to Lloyd. But keep in mind that you cannot return until the journey ends. Or until Lloyd have died."**_ Huh? What? Journey ends? Before Emil can ask further about the agreement a bright beam of light suddenly shoots up from the altar startling them. The beam soon grows more and more brightly until it eventually blinds them and when it dies down they find themselves right where they were before.

Emil looks about the altar room in complete puzzlement, "Are we still in the Martel Temple?" Before too long they pick up the sound of clashing swords coming from just outside the temple. Out of urgency they head down and out of the temple only to come face to face with something that they both hate. A large brute have just fallen and the person that have just defeated the brute is none other than Genis, Colette, and...Lloyd. Emil just cannot help himself. The moment he sees those red clothes his enters into a rage as his eyes flash a bloody red, "LLOYD!" Emil quickly takes his sword out of its sheathe and charges for the twinblader with utter rage.

"Huh?" Before Lloyd can even respond the blond guy is on him and trying to slice him ever which way. "Whoa! Stop!" The brunet barely gets a hit in before he is overwhelmed and force upon his behind. If anything the twinblader have to admire the young lad's swordsmanship if not for the fact that the guy is trying to outright kill him. "Hey! Wait! Whatever you have against me I am sure we can work it out." After have taken care of the large brute of a Design the twinblader is already exhausted and does not want to fight an unnecessary confrontation. But Emile have something else in mind.

From the start Emil knows that something is off. He have battled with Lloyd before but this Lloyd seem to lack a lot in skills and abilities. It is almost a joke to even fight him. But even so he does not plan to let the brunet live. Not after all that have happened. The blond charges in again but have to jump back to avoid a volley of fireballs. He looks over to the source to find a familiar face. Genis...If Emil knows anything he knows that Genis is a wiz with spells. Especially the powerful ones. Of course it comes as no surprise that Genis will defend his old friend but it still outrages Emil, "Why are you standing up for him?! Can't you see this guy is a murderer?! He killed the people of Palmacosta!"

Genis quirks an eyebrow in a bit of confusion, "Palmacosta? Sorry but we have never been to Palmacosta." Now this really gets on Emil's nerve. Is Genis playing dumb to protect his friend? Regardless, whoever tries to defend Lloyd is his enemy. Emil is about to charge after Genis only to have to jump back again. This time it is to avoid getting hit by a flying chakram. Of course...Now Colette is going to defend Lloyd as well. If Emil is to fight alone the odds will be against him. Luckily that is not the case. As the chakram goes on its return course Marta manages to deflect it with her own weapon before the thing can even touch Emil. The two smile each other as they face off with the trio. Both side expect to have a drawn out fight but surprisingly the battle comes as very short. Obviously Emil is now out of Lloyd's league and the trio are easily dealt with.

As the three try to recover from their battle wounds Emil approaches Lloyd and raises his blade. Even though Lloyd knows that he might be dying in the next moment he cannot help but feel so weak. He is not very bright but Lloyd have his pride as a swordsman as well as a friend. To let it all end like this is just unforgivable, "Dammit!" Emil, his heart still bent on revenge, once again raises his blade high above the weaken and beaten twinblader. This is it. With this he will finally be able to avenge those that were mercilessly slaughtered at Palmacosta and bring their suffering to an end. Without a second of hesitation Emil brings his sword down upon the man that he have hated more than anything else.

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**Small Preview:** Yes the Summon Spirit of the Heart have somehow manage to take Emil back in time when Lloyd and co. have just started their journey. Question now is how will Emil get along with someone that he thinks is a killer and will the boy's resolve still be there when he finds out that there is more than meets the eye? Keep an eye out for the next chapter where the two parties meet up with a aburn haired mecenary who Emil mistaken for Richter.


	2. Distrust

The sound of metal meeting metal echoes into the air and Emil finds that his blade is being blocked off by the sword of another. Now this is getting annoying. His chance to execute this murderer is once again being denied and by someone else yet again. He look up to the sword's owner but his eyes widen in shock when he sees the face of the guy. Although the hairstyle and clothing style is very different the hair color, and even the color of the clothing, is very similar to a person that Emil knows. "Richter?" Sensing that the boy have calm down a bit the purple clad sellsword places his weapon back in its sheath as Emil does the same. "Richter what are you doing here?" He looks up to the aburn haired swordsman for a bit but soon the anger is back, "And why are you helping Lloyd?!"

This name immediately gets the sellsword's attention and the man turns his attention back to the twinblader as the boy tries to get back on his feet. "You name...is Lloyd?"

Lloyd manages to get back onto his feet but instead of answering the sellsword's question he turns his head to the side with a pout, "Who are you to ask for my name?" This is just embarrassing. Lloyd have always thought of himself as being strong but now he is out staged not by one but two other swordsman. Despite Lloyd's childish behavior, and Emil's confusion of calling him by someone else's name, the purple clad swordsman does not seem to want to share his name.

With the commotion with the Desians now over with Phidra, Colette's mother, exits the temple, "How can I thank you all for protecting the Chosen?"

Protecting the Chosen? Marta merely huffs at the thought. Much like Emil's hatred towards Lloyd Marta have her own reasons to look down upon the Chosen. However the purple clad sellsword look to have taken an interest in the blond Chosen. His gaze steers over to Colette, "So this one is the Chosen..." The sentence does not sound much like a question but more of a thought that was spoken out loud.

"Yes..." Although the sellsword was not asking anything Phidra it is necessary to explain things to him, "She was to receive the Oracle today. But..." The old lady clasps her hands together as if in prayer, "The priest that were to accompany. I am afraid that they have been killed by the Desians."

"I see." The purple clad swordsman turns his attention to the elderly lady, "My name is Kratos. A traveling mercenary. As long as you can pay me I will accept the job of protecting the Chosen."

As expected Lloyd is not about to just leave it like that, "Wait! I am going too."

Kratos immediately tries to abolish Lloyd's request, "You will only be in the way. Be a good boy and stay here."

This is the chance that Emil have been waiting for. If he somehow get Lloyd separated from the others than taking the brunet down will be an wasy enough task. But just as that thought crosses his mind the twinblader decides to act up. "What did you say?!" Obviously the boy is not going to just stand idly by and let the mercenary hog all the spotlight, "I am going to protect Colette."

The mercenary gives him a stern glare, "Did I not make myself clear? You are a burden. Go home!" The tone in Kratos' voice is one of authority. Although Lloyd does not say anything back it is clear that the boy is not happy with the mercenary's answer and is not about to stand for it. Lloyd wants to protect his friend while Kratos does not want to deal with the extra burden.

The tension between them is obvious but before it can build up any more Colette decides to give her input, "Mr. Kratos. Is it okay if Lloyd comes with us." Once again the mercenary is close to shooting down her opinion but she manages to stop him before any words can leave his mouth. "Please...I get nervous when Lloyd is not around." The mercenary starts to argue but the look in Colette's eyes tell him that she is not going to give in easily. The mercenary decides to just give up the futile argument and simply walks towards the temple without any words of disagreement. Colette takes this as a sign of agreement though, "Thank you Kratos." The mercenary mumbles something under his breath although the others are not close enough to hear it.

"Thank you Colette." The twinblader then turns his attention towards Genis, "You are coming to right?" Genis is taken a bit aback by this and points to himself as if asking Lloyd to confirm what he just heard. "Of course." Lloyd smiles, "Aren't you a bit curious about this too?"

"Why must you always drag me into these things?" Genis sighs, "You know we are going to get into big trouble if Raine finds out about this." Genis always find his sister's hobbies pretty scary but seeing her angry is enough to cause even a grown adult a bit of fear. But her cooking...Oh god words cannot describe just how bad that can turn out.

"I am going too!" The group turns to Emil who still looks angry enough to kill. "I am going too! I want to go and see what happens." Of course Emil have no interest in this Oracle and Chosen nonsense. The main reason for him going with them is so he have a chance to stab Lloyd in the back. In his mind the twinblader is just plain evil as well as all those that sticks up for him. Colette, due to her forgiving nature, is willing to let Emil join them. But Lloyd and Genis are not as easy to forget.

"Forget it!" Lloyd exclaims. "You tried to kill us!"

"Yeah!" Genis adds, "What makes us sure you will not try to stab us in the back when it's turned?!" Soon enough the questions turns into a heated argument between the two parties and none of them seem to want to come to a compromise. Emil and Marta accuses Lloyd and Genis for being murders while Lloyd and Genis accuses them of assisting the Desians.

All this arguing is enough to stall the group from entering the temple. And in Kratos eyes the petty debate is just a waste of time. "This is not a field trip you know." Kratos sighs. Those words are just enough to get under Lloyd's skin causing the brunet to stop in the middle of the heated debate. Seeing as the shouting have stop the mercenary enters the temple with Colette, Genis, and Lloyd following behind him. Emil and Marta comes in after them although the two groups are trying to put some distance between them.

Upon entering the temple Lloyd starts to look around in sheer excitement. He have never been inside the temple before and like a kid any new adventure is an excuse to break free from the norm and have a bit of fun. "Wow!" Lloyd exclaims in enthusiasm, "It is pretty dark in here." Genis merely sighs and shakes his head. Sometimes he wonders if his best friend is just a kid in a grown up body. Ignoring his friend's display of slight annoyance the twinblader turns his attention to the Chosen, "Have you been in here before Colette?"

"No. Not really." Colette replies, "I have been to the temple but I never gone in this deep before."

Now that is something that Lloyd likes to hear. Unknown lands, new things to see, and new treasures to find. If anything anything that is new to him is a chance to explore. A big goofy smile soon appears on the brunet's face, "Well then what are we waiting for? Lets go get the Oracle!" And like that the twinblader is off to seek out the deeper regions of the temple.

"Wait!" Lloyd is stop in his tracks and again it is by the very person that had tried to block him from getting into the temple in the first place. Although he is clearly annoyed by the presence of both the mercenary and Emil he does not let it get to him too much. Lloyd simple looks back over to the mercenary as the guy approaches him. Kratos stares down at the young twinblader and notices that the lad still had wooden blades. This can only mean that the boy have not been properly trained. "Are your sword techniques self taught?"

Like before the twinblader breaks eye contact with the mercenary but this time takes the chance to cross his arms, "Yeah...Why do you ask?" The mercenary remains silent for a bit. Obviously trying to size up the boy' potential and skills. By the time Lloyd looks back he finds the mercenary handing him a book. Curious the brunet takes what is offered to him only to see the title _Swordplay Training Manual_. Oh that is it. What kind of idiot does this guy take him as? However the twinblader does not get mad right away but instead asks a question. "What is this?" The hint of irritation seeps into his voice.

"If you are going to use a sword then at least learn to use it properly." The mercenary walks pass him but stop momentarily, "You are here to protect the Chosen right?" The voice is monotone but the way he say it seem to mock Lloyd's ability to fight. And the boy is not one to like being mocked.

A shout of irritation soon escapes the brunet, "Just because he is better than me he thinks he knows everything!" By then Kratos have already vanish into another corridor. The twinblader's ears soon catches the sound of slight snickering and looks to the source only to see that Emil is responsible for them. Without warning Lloyd hurls the manual right at Emil and the book smacks the guy right in the face. This, of course, leads into another fight between the two groups and again Kratos have to break them up before they can proceed deeper into the temple. They eventually reach a platform which seems to have holes in it. "This place looks so much smaller on the outside." Lloyd looks about and his eyes catches onto something sparkling in the distance, "Hey guys! Come look at this!" The group heads over to that edge of the platform to find a red glow not too far away from them. "What do you think that is?" Lloyd asks.

"It must be the Sorceror's Ring." Genis replies, "It is said that the ring has the ability to turn mana into a physical form." This news delights his friend and immediately Genis catches the childish smile on Lloyd's face. "Oh no." Genis crosses his arms as his voice takes on a more authoritative tone, "You are not thinking about playing with it are you? Lloyd...The ring is NOT a toy."

"Aw Come on." Lloyd pleas, "There is no harm if I wore it for a while right?" Seeing how enthusiastic Lloyd is Genis knows that talking sense into the brunet is not going to be possible. All the albino can do is shrugs a sigh at his friend's lack of knowledge. It is then that Lloyd notices that someone is missing from the small group, "Where is Colette?"

"Look at this!" The group look in the direction of Colette's voice to find her a little to close to what looks like a giant made up of rocks.

"Watch out!" Kratos rushes and manages to block off the golem's attack before it can connect. Lloyd and Genis quickly enters the fray but even still the stone golem is proving to be more of a hassle than they need.

Lloyd barely manages to evade one of the golem's punches and look over to Emil and Marta to find the two just standing there. "What are you two doing?!" The brunet rushes in and tries to slice at the golem's stone hard exterior but with no luck. Wooden blade are just not made to cut like steel can. Again he jumps back from one of the golem's attack and once again he tries to get Emil and Marta to help but again they do not look interested in doing so. Thankfully Kratos's steel blade can do some harm but not as much as they want. And Genis' fireballs are doing little to faze the stone giant. After a prolonged battle they somehow manage to win over the monster. But Lloyd's rage is not quite gone. He looks over in Emil's and Marta's direction with anger. He thinks about punching the two for not helping out but before he stomps over to them Colette calms him down by grabbing his arm and shaking her head. Lloyd swallows down his feelings of irritation as they head over to the defeated golem to find it have turn into a large stone confuses the group for a bit and Lloyd finds himself scratching his head, "It turned into a rock?"

Colette approaches the large stone cube but then sudden trips and pushes the cube down one of the many stone fits snugly into a gap in the walkway below and that is when Genis and Emil gets an idea. Genis' idea revolves around completing the walkway below but Emil's inspiration is far less friendly. As soon as Lloyd gets close enough to one of the holes Emil gets behind the twinblader and pushes him into it. Luckily the walkway below is already filled in by a stone cube so instead of falling into the abyss the twinblader falls flat on his face. Colette looks down into the hole in concern for Lloyd's safety while Genis turns to face Emil, "I knew you can not be trusted!" The albino launches a few fireballs in Emil's direction and while Emil dodges a few one manages to hit him.

Again this breaks out into a fight between the two parties causing Kratos to sigh. It is clear that these two group will never get along and the purple clad mercenary is not up to babysitting a bunch of kids who cannot behave. He draws out his sword and swings it in between them to stop the fight. This effectively stops them and once they have calm down some Kratos puts his blade away, "Obviously there is some animosity here. Genis you will check up on Lloyd then head for the opposite side of the temple. See if there is anything useful." The mercenary then looks over to Emil and his travel companion, "You and your friend will accompany me and the Chosen for a while." Given their skillsets so far the mercenary believes that Emil is better suited to bring along since the boy seem to have more experience with combat.

However neither Genis nor Emil likes the new group arrangement. Genis because he cannot trust Emil with Colette and Emil because he will lose his chance to kill off Lloyd. But neither of them can talk back against the purple clad swordsman. Kratos may not have his sword out but that glare of his is enough to put anyone in their place. With heavy sighs the group splits as Genis goes to check up on Lloyd and Kratos continues on with Emil and Marta.

Lloyd remains on the ground a bit stunned until he finally regains some composure, "Oww." The twinblader sits up to find himself with a bloody nose and a slight headache, "What happened?" A few seconds later Genis goes over to him and he smiles a bit at his best friend, "Guess I fell in by accident."

Genis responds with a shake of his head, "No. That boy tried to kill you again."

"What?!" Lloyd quickly gets to his feet but starts to stumbles about. The fall have done a bit more damage then he is aware of.

Genis manages to hold Lloyd up, "Come on Lloyd. Kratos said we should search the opposite side of the temple."

"You're kidding right?" Genis does not reply and that is when Lloyd knows that his best friend is not joking around. Lloyd tries to stand on his own again but finds it difficult to do so without some assistance. "Damn." Lloyd whispers under his breath. He hates being out staged but being helpless is even worse. Left without much of an option the brunet allows Genis to guide him towards the other side of the temple. Unfortunately their side have collapsed in blocking the path. All they can do now is rest up and wait for Kratos and his half of the group to return.

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**Story Preview: **Looks like Lloyd and Emil are never going to get along anytime soon. Hopefully the two will get along as the adventure continues on. In the next chapter we will witness the appearance of the Tower of Salvation as well as Emil's first ever view of a human ranch. Maybe Lloyd selflessness will be enough to sway Emil from trying to get at him. Who knows? Read the next chapter to find out.


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